Multihand poker game

ABSTRACT

This invention is a multi-handed poker game where the cards are dealt in in a diamond pattern with four hands formed from five card groups. In one embodiment, a player may swap cards among the four hands before the hands are compared to a paytable.

This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 10/211,063 first filed on Aug. 2, 2002 which claims priority from application Ser. No. 10/015,314 first filed on first filed on Dec. 11, 2001; and a continuation in part from application Ser. No. 10/418,829, first filed on Apr. 21, 2003 and now allowed; the disclosures of these applications are incorporated herein in their entirety.

This patent relates to an innovative card game that can be played electronically, like video poker, or could be played using traditional cards.

As described in more detail below, this game allows a player to play multiple games simultaneously and permits him to exchange cards from other hands to improve his odds of winning.

The basic configuration of the cards is a diamond shape (although other shapes could be used e.g., pentagon and octagon). In the diamond-shaped embodiment, each side of the diamond has five cards. The comer cards are used in the adjacent hands. One way to play the game is to deal all three interior cards face up and leave the four corner cards face down. The player could then decide to swap cards from opposite sides of the diamond. After the exchange, the comer cards could be displayed, and the player paid according to a payoff table.

PRIOR ART

There are a number of video poker games involving multiple hands (see e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,823,873 and 6,007,066), but none of these games allows the player to exchange cards from one hand to another hand. The innovation of this patent requires the player to consider entirely different strategies because the exchange could improve one hand at the expense of another hand. Also, the shared corner cards add an entirely new dimension to any known poker game.

Additionally, certain card games, like hearts, permit players to exchange cards, but these games differ from this invention because here the cards are exchanged between different players, and the players do not know the entire effect of the exchange.

DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 shows a four-sided, five card per side embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows a four-sided, five card per side embodiment of the present invention with the corner cards face down and all other cards face up.

FIG. 3 shows an exchange of corner cards.

FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of the present invention with a card in the center.

FIG. 5 shows an embodiment of a video poker machine for playing the. present invention.

FIG. 6 shows a six-sided embodiment of the present invention,

FIG. 7 shows a pentagonal embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 describes the basic configurations. There are four hands A, B, C and D. Hand A has cards 1, 10, 20, 30 and 40. Cards 1 and 40 are corner cards, and can be used in hands B and D, respectively.

FIG. 2 describes one embodiment where four hands A, B, C and D are displayed. Hand A consists of cards 10 (jack), 20 (10) and 30 (queen) which are displayed. Hand C consists of cards 90 (8), 100 (jack) and 110 (9) which are displayed. Hands B and D could also be displayed simultaneously.

In this example, the player would then have the option to exchange opposing cards. The player could exchange cards 10 and 110 giving him at least a pair of jacks in hand C and the possibility of a straight in hand A. The corner cards could then be revealed and the resulting hands would be compared to the payoff table.

In another embodiment the player would have to pay for each hand played. For example two coins would yield two games, four coins four games, etc. If hands B and D were played they would follow the same logic as described below with respect to hands A and C.

If hands B and D were also played, the player could exchange cards 60 with 140. The result would be at least three 7's in hand B and a pair of aces in hand D.

Another embodiment would enable the player to exchange corner cards. This could happen if all the corner cards were dealt face up or the exchange could take place after the corner cards were revealed.

Another embodiment would require the player to pay for each exchange. In this embodiment, the player would pay two betting units (e.g., coins) and would be permitted two exchanges. For each additional payment, the player would be entitled to additional exchanges.

Another embodiment would deal a card in the center. This card could be used as a comer card or could be considered a wild card.

As shown in FIG. 5, to implement this game a video poker machine could be fitted with a rotatable knob and that controlled an elongated rectangle on the video screen. The rectangle would cover the cards to be exchanged. When the cards to be exchanged are covered with the rectangle, the player would push a button that would effectuate the change.

Another way to implement the card exchange is with a touch screen. In this version, the player would touch the cards he wanted to exchange, and could then push another button and the exchange would be effected.

As the technology improves, voice commands could also be used to control the game.

The game could also be played with 6, 8 or 10 sided figures. FIG. 6 shows an embodiment with a six-sided figure and shows how opposing cards could be exchanged.

FIG. 7 shows how the game could be played with a pentagon.

Of course, as the number of hands is increased more than one deck can be used.

The game could require the player to pay for each hand. For example, four coins would give a four-handed game and six coins would give a six-handed game. Alternatively, one coin could activate 4, 6, 8 or 10 games. Additional bets could be required at each stage. For example, one bet could be required to start. Another bet could be required to exchange the cards. Alternatively, one coin could be required for each exchange. Another bet could be required to reveal the face down cards. And, another bet could be required to exchange the corner cards. 

1. A method to play video poker comprising the following steps: dealing cards to a player in a four sided, diamond shape, where each side is a separate hand that has five cards, said hand consisting of three interior cards and two corner cards, and where the corner cards are shared with two adjacent hands; the player exchanging cards from one hand to another hand; and after all exchanges, comparing each of the resulting hands to a paytable.
 2. The method to play video poker of claim 1 wherein dealing cards further comprises the following steps: dealing the three interior cards in each hand face up and the corner cards face down; and where the player exchanging cards further comprises exchanging only interior cards; and further comprising the step of revealing the corner cards after all exchanges before comparing each of the resulting hands to a paytable after the corner cards are revealed.
 3. The method of claim 1 where dealing the cards further comprises dealing the three interior cards face down and dealing the corner cards face up.
 4. The method of claim 3 where the player exchanging cards further comprises exchanging corner cards.
 5. The method of claim 1 where dealing cards to a player comprises dealing cards to a player in a six-sided shape.
 6. The method of claim 1 where dealing cards to a player further comprises dealing an additional card and the player exchanging cards further comprises exchanging the additiona card with one of the corner cards.
 7. The method of claim 6 where the additional card is a wild card.
 8. The method of claim 1 where dealing cards to a player comprises dealing cards to a player in an eight-sided shape.
 9. The method of claim 1 where dealing cards to a player comprises dealing cards to a player in a 10-sided shape.
 10. The method of claim 1 further comprising the player exchanging one or more of the previously exchanged cards with a third or forth hand, prior to comparing each of the resulting hands to a paytable.
 11. A method to play a video poker game comprising: dealing to a player one or more pairs of hands with five cards in each hand where each hand consists of three interior cards and two end cards that are common to each pair of hands and the three interior cards are dealt face up; the player exchanging interior cards between hands; and after all exchanges, comparing each of the resulting hands to a paytable.
 11. The method of claim 11 where the end cards are dealt face down and further comprising turning the end cards face up after the player has exchanged cards and before comparing each of the resulting hands to a paytable.
 12. The method of claim 11 where two pairs of hands are dealt so that each hand has three interior cards and all hands share two common end cards.
 13. A method to play a video poker game that comprises the following steps: (a) dealing cards to a player in a four sided diamond shape, consisting of 16 cards, where each side is a separate hand that has five cards consisting of three interior cards and two corner cards, the corner cards are shared with two adjacent hands; (b) permitting a player to exchange cards from one hand to another hand; (c) after the exchanges, comparing each of the resulting hands to a paytable; and (d) paying the player according to amounts set out in the paytable for each hand.
 14. 